Putin says US policy in Middle East ‘obviously failed’

“The fact that this is a failure is now obvious,” Putin told the TV channel Al-Ghad, on the sidelines of the Russian Energy Week international forum in Moscow.

The US “practically moved away from previous international instruments to resolve this problem,” which included Russia and several other countries, and “practically monopolized the settlement process,” Putin explained.

At some point in this process, the Palestinian Authority “had to make a number of quite serious statements and make it clear that it was not ready to agree to the ‘principles’ [the US] proposed”, the Russian president added.

“This was primarily due to Israel’s policy on settlements.”

Moscow’s position on the issue has “always been clear, understandable, and transparent”, Putin said, with Russia telling both the Palestinians and Israelis that it was “necessary to implement the previously adopted decisions of the UN Security Council to create an independent, sovereign Palestinian state – as was originally envisaged during the creation of the Israel”.

The issue is a “complex and very sensitive” one, and everyone needs to refrain from inflammatory statements and minimize casualties among civilians, the Russian president added. Another priority is to prevent the conflict from expanding, Putin added, as this would have implications globally and not just in the region.

The latest escalation between Hamas and Israel began early on Saturday, when the Palestinian fighters launched a surprise attack on multiple locations along the Gaza border in response to Israel’s repeated aggression against Palestinians and desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli officials estimate that more than 1,200 people have been killed in the Hamas assault and over 3,000 have been wounded.

Israeli massive air strikes on the densely-populated Gaza Strip, has so far killed almost 1,200 people.